Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 4,014 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,649% compared to the typical volume of 146 call options.

Shares of SNN stock opened at $37.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $17.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.44. Smith & Nephew has a 1 year low of $32.22 and a 1 year high of $40.78.

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The business also recently declared a semiannual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Smith & Nephew’s previous semiannual dividend of $0.25. This represents a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Smith & Nephew’s payout ratio is 42.57%.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Investment Research cut Smith & Nephew from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research note on Monday, April 8th. BNP Paribas cut Smith & Nephew from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Smith & Nephew from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT bought a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,574,000. Foresters Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Foresters Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 840,850 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 277,750 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 717,704 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $26,828,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 461,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $17,262,000 after purchasing an additional 26,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 506.7% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 391,860 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $14,648,000 after purchasing an additional 327,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.38% of the company’s stock.

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Smith & Nephew Company Profile

Smith & Nephew plc develops, manufactures, and sells medical devices worldwide. The company offers sports medicine joint repair products for surgeons, including an array of instruments, technologies, and implants necessary to perform minimally invasive surgery of the joints, such as the repair of soft tissue injuries and degenerative conditions of the knee, hip, and shoulder.